It is often desirable to provide the capability to determine, prognostically, the remaining useful life for electronics, propulsion components, and other such structures. For example, in the context of solid rocket motors, it would be advantageous to be able to predict the health of such systems prior to use.
In attempting to provide such assessments, presently known health and usage monitoring systems typically provide information regarding the environment in which the component is stored and transported. However, such systems do not sufficiently take into account the wide range of environmental conditions that affect useful life while at the same time effectively monitoring the actual condition and health of the component of interest over time.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an embedded, self-powered, and compact sensor module for monitoring both the environment and the usage of a component. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.